Alijah
Feminine · “Hebrew "my God is Yahweh”
Alijah is given to both — 1,450 girls and 14,231 boys since 1880. See Alijah as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Elijah contains two names of God at once — El and Yah — and the prophet's whole story is an argument about which god is real. His name is the argument in miniature: my God is Yahweh. He made it on Mount Carmel, in a contest against the prophets of Baal.
How old is the name Alijah?
Alijah first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Alijah alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,400 people named Alijah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alijah most popular?
Alijah peaked in 2001, reaching #1995 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 5,496 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eliyahu to Alijah
The story of Alijah
Elijah is one of the most consequential figures in the Hebrew Bible: he does not die but is taken up in a whirlwind, and Jewish tradition expects his return, which is why a cup is set for him at every Passover seder. Christian tradition places him at the Transfiguration alongside Moses. Islamic tradition knows him as Ilyas. The name was rare in English until the Reformation, when Protestant families took up Old Testament names in quantity, and it became strongly established in America. The Alijah spelling is recent and used for both sexes, with the female figures peaking in 2001.
Meaning
Hebrew "my God is Yahweh"
From Eliyahu: El, God, with the first-person suffix, plus Yahu, the divine name. Very few names carry both divine elements. The confrontation on Mount Carmel in the first book of Kings, where Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to call down fire, is a direct dramatization of what the name asserts. Alijah is a modern American respelling and is used for both sexes; the female use is a minority.
How the name formed
- Eliyahu
- Elias
- Elijah
- Alijah
Related forms: Elijah · Ilyas · Ilias · Elías
Pronouncing Alijah
uh-LY-juh
Three syllables, stress on the second, said exactly like Elijah. Hebrew Eliyahu is eh-lee-YAH-hoo, four syllables with the stress near the end.
Nicknames for Alijah
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 201586 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1995reached in 2001
- Change vs 2024
- −36.4%14 in 2025, from 22
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alijah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elijah in English — spelling variant
- Ilyas in Arabic — same name
- Ilias in Greek — same name
- Elías in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Alijahs among us
people named Alijah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Alijah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Tashika test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alijah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tashika climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tashika's path sketches the road Alijah is walking now.
Alijah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Alijah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alijah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and unusually direct.
- Ali and Eli are ready short forms that stand alone.
- It carries one of the major figures of three religious traditions.
- Elijah is the standard spelling and will be substituted constantly.
- It reads as a male name to most Americans.
- Aaliyah and Alijah are frequently confused in speech.
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What they receive
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Alijah
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alijahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Alijah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alijah in 2025?
- Alijah ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alijah?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Alijah — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alijah with classmates?
- Alijah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alijah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Christie#7491 · Carmelita#7491 · Jetta#7491 · Hildegard#7491 · Rickie#7491 · Billy#7491 · Angelyn#7491 · Jewell#7491
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alijah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alijah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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